Why I Quit Caffeine

On August 30th, 2016, I ended up in the hospital.

My chest felt tight, breathing was difficult, and my heart was pounding. I thought I was dying.

Turns out, it was just a severe panic attack.

You guys have heard me talk about this before. I know I've had some form of anxiety or another for most of my life, but it was so ever-present and ingrained in everything I did, I didn’t realize what it was.

Feeling that way all the time was my normal.

When I started learning more about that feeling, I became more conscious of it in my life. It was like a fish finally noticing water. That consciousness was important in a lot of ways, but the problem with noticing the anxiety is that I started noticing it—and feeling it—more and more.

Then after moving my entire life to Calgary at 31, anxiety really took over.

My Wake Up Call

That August day in the hospital was my breaking point.

I've talked about it in my podcast before, so if you haven't heard that whole story check it out here.

After getting home from the hospital, I realized I needed to make some lifestyle changes if I wanted to continue functioning. I was desperate to feel “normal” again (whatever that is).

The first thing I examined was my relationship with caffeine. Sometimes I noticed a spike in my anxiety after my morning coffee, so I did the unthinkable: I decided to stop drinking coffee.

I never thought I was addicted to caffeine because I could easily go a day or two without it, but when I eliminated it altogether, it was insane how my body reacted.

Caffeine withdrawal is no joke, you guys. I had a twitch on my left eyelid for over 4 months!